


Forestville Stories

by Wolfypoof



Category: Furry (Fandom), Original Work
Genre: Animals, Anthropomorphic, Collection of stories, Furry, High School, OC, Pokemon OC, School, Short Story, Slice of Life, Story Collection, daily life, forest, ongoing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28395639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfypoof/pseuds/Wolfypoof
Summary: Forestville is a small town in the middle of nowhere surrounded by forests. It is home to friendly animals and critters. In this town there's never a dull day and literally anything can happen, from a trip to the local diner to an alien from another planet. Ricky, a 15 year old wolf, lives besides his friends and gets up to all sorts of nonsense. This book will be a record of them all!(All art is mine unless otherwise stated)
Kudos: 2





	1. Intro

Hi! My name's Ricky, I'm 15 years old, a wolf and I live in Forestville with my mum, dad, older sister Claire and my friends. I love to have fun and I'm always looking for something interesting to do! My best friends are Aqua, Amelia and Purry. 

Aqua has been my best friend since, like, forever! He's really fun to be around! He's always making me smile and laugh. He can pretty lazy though and he's often being sarcastic with me. Through thick and thin, we will always be side by side! Lately I kinda feel he's hiding something from me... Oh well! I guess it's nothing and he will tell me eventually.

(Art by sharpytown on DeviantArt)

Amelia is very kind and cheerful. She's always helping me with homework when I don't understand it. She makes me happy when she smiles. She can have a bit of a short temper, but as long as you are on her good side (which is easy to do) you'll be fine! She's really cute and pretty and... Don't tell her this but I have a crush on her! Shh, it's our secret! 

Purry isn't her actual name, it's actually a nickname. Her full name is Purrsephone but she hates it when we call her that. So Purry it is. She's Amelia's best friend but is a friend of mine and Aqua's too. She's a bubbly girl and is obsessed with fashion, make-up, shopping and boys! If she sees a boy she likes, she will flirt with him. It's kinda annoying but she doesn't bother me so that's good (I guess??). She can be kinda sassy at times and often gets into arguments with Aqua. She's mostly in a good mood though! She's also good at sewing and sometimes makes us clothes! 

So those are my best friends! I attend the local high school and I generally get along with everyone in my class. You can find out about them a little later though! There's also Rosie, a waitress at the local diner, Makiko, a woman who owns a tea shop and Savvy, who works at the night club. There's also been rumours about a robot wondering around? I guess I gotta found out about it myself! 

But enough about introductions... Let's get this show on the road! 


	2. Girlfriend-zone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ricky's crush on Amelia becomes too much to bare and he decides it's about time he does something about it. Of course, that's easier said than done...

Today started out like any other Monday morning. I got up, had breakfast and went to school. I meet my friends half way so I don't walk by myself. We always meet at the local park, which is the perfect distance between our houses and school. When I got there, Aqua the oshawott and Purry the cat were already waiting. 

They were sitting side by side looking at their phones. When I approached them, Aqua lifted his head.

"Oh hey! Good morning!" he greeted. He put his phone down and Purry did the same. She nodded her head in greeting. They both shuffled over and I sat down next to them. "Good morning," I said back. "How are we?"

Purry lent back, her grey and white tail swishing in the air. "Oh, you know!" she said. No, I do not know. What's that meant to mean!? She gave me a cheeky grin so maybe I wasn't meant to know. Aqua told us about his weekend and he appeared to be in good spirits. I was about to make some conversation when we had some little paws running towards us.

"Sorry I'm late!" their owner yelled. It was Amelia, the cute rabbit girl! She came running towards with her paw in the air waving and key-chains on her school bag rattling. She skidded to a halt and her pink skirt waved in the wind.

"Don't worry about it," Aqua said. "Ricky only got here not too long ago." She shuffled her feet and held on to her school bag tightly. "Oh, I don't feel so bad then," she smiled. She had a kind smile, the sort of smile that leaves your heart racing. Or maybe that's just how I feel? 

You see, for the longest time I've had a crush on her. She has no idea, of course, and I hope to keep it that way. I don't even think she would feel the same way about me. She's too good to settle for me. But one day I'll work up the courage to ask her out. Yeah... One day.

Purry jumped off the bench and sent me back to reality. She swished her tail and turned her head to look at us. "Should we get going then?" she asked with a smile. Aqua got off the bench too and put his bag over his shoulders. 

"We better," Amelia said. "Or we'll be late!" We then walked to school together, talking about this and that. There's surprisingly a lot you can do over one weekend. 

We managed to get to school on time. The bell rang as we finished putting our stuff away in our lockers. The four of us got to class where the teacher, Miss Loveheart, was waiting. We sat in our usual seats, third row from the front. After the usual announcements and things, we were allowed to talk with each other before homeroom was over. Amelia was called out of the room. I think she was helping Miss Loveheart with something? Since Amelia was gone, Purry shuffled her seat over to where Aqua and I were.

I loudly sighed. "What was that for? Something bothering you?" Aqua asked. 

"No. Well, yes."

He laughed and looked right at me. "Are you going to tell us then?" he said. Purry looked at me with her bright yellow eyes. She had her usual pink eye-shadow on. I thought for a moment about what I was going to say.

"Well... Do you guys have a crush on anyone?" I asked. Purry sat herself upright and threw her paws on to the desk.

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked!" she squeaked. "Do you see that boy over there?" She pointed towards the back of the classroom. Staring out the window, sat a dewott wearing a long blue scarf. If I remember correctly, his name is Ayo. We've only spoken a few times and he tends to keep to himself anyway.

"He is soooo cute!" Purry squealed. She blushed a deep red and her eyes looked like they were shining. 

"Uh, I guess so..." Aqua chuckled. "Anyway, somehow I feel like he wanted to talk about someone he has a crush on." Purry gave me a smug look and raised an eyebrow. 

"Ahaha! N-no!" I shouted. I rubbed the back of my head out of embarrassment. Purry put her face closer to mine. "Oh really?" 

I nodded. She didn't seem too pleased with that. "You can tell us. We won't tell anyone," Aqua said. Purry nodded and sat down properly again. I crossed my arms and looked away as my cheeks started to blush.

"Alright, fine!" I yelled. I looked to the floor. "It's Amelia." They were both stunned for a moment. Then Purry grinned. "Ooh~ Interesting~." 

Aqua shuffled in his seat. "Are you going to tell her?" he asked. I pulled the chair back out of shock.

"No way! I can't tell her that!" I shouted.

"Why not?" he asked. He blinked a couple times.

"Because it's..." My eyes shifted around the room. I wonder when she will come back? "It's complicated okay?" I said. Aqua shrugged. 

"What are you guys talking about?" Amelia's back! When did she get there!? Our jaws dropped and we then scrambled to act like we weren't talking about her. Purry laughed. "Oh, we were just questioning Aqua's sexuality!" she squeaked. Amelia titled her head in confusion.

"Ahaha..." he laughed. A dark shadow fell on to his face and he gritted his teeth. "Purry, I am going to kill you!" She made a surprised squeak and jumped off her seat, her tail gently flowing in the air. Aqua followed pursuit and said all sorts of curse words at her. They chased each other around the classroom until she hid behind Miss Loveheart's legs. As expected, they both got in trouble for causing a disturbance.

Amelia looked a little shocked at this but she turned to look at me. A cute smile appeared on her face and I immediately blushed. 

School was over now and it was time for us to go home. Purry had arranged that she was going to have a study session at Aqua's house. They were going to stop by the library so I was told to go ahead. Which means I was left with Amelia. Alone. Before they left, we had a little chat.

"Well, isn't that perfect!" Purry squeaked. "You can tell her how you feel~." I shook my head.

"There's no way I'm doing that," I said. She gave me a pout. 

"You don't have to go that far," Aqua laughed. He had one paw on his school bag and the other over his mouth while he laughed. "Though you could try to drop her hints and something." I looked to the floor and absentmindedly kicked stones around. "I guess so..."

Purry jumped up and swished her tail. "Quick, here she comes!" Amelia skipped around the corner and had a big bright grin on her face. Her pigtails bounced along as she moved. She came to a stop in front of us. 

"Are we ready?" she asked. I gave her a small nod. We said goodbye to Aqua and Purry and they left in the opposite direction. I started to walk with Amelia. We were silent, apart from the song that Amelia appeared to be humming. I looked at her face closely. Yep, still as cute as she was this morning. I felt myself blush and looked away from her. 

"H-hey..." I said at last. Her humming stopped and I felt her adjusting her bag. "Hmm?"

"Um... Wh-what... What do you think about me?" I stuttered. It's a start at least. She stopped walking and I turned to look at her. She looked surprised. 

"What do you mean?" She titled her head. I darted my eyes around the place before deciding where I wanted to go with this.

"I mean like... Do we think we'll still be friends in a few years? Or something like that..." Aaah, I'm so embarrassed! Her face turned into a friendly grin and she started to giggle.

"Aw, Ricky!" she said. "You'll always be my friend!" ...Ye-ouch. I felt my heart drop out of my chest. For some reason, that hurt a lot. I smiled anyway and did my best to hide my tears. "Ehehe, yeah..." 

She then announced she had to go. We were near her house, after all. "See you tomorrow! If you call him, tell Aqua I said hi!" she waved and then skipped into her front yard. I couldn't help but wonder what her parents look like...

When I got home, I retreated into my bedroom. My sister wasn't there to bother me but I feel safest in there. I got out my phone and called Aqua's number. 

"H-"

"I think I just got friendzoned." The other end went silent. It appeared Purry was also still there. 

"Pssh!" she spat. "The friendzone doesn't exist!" I heard her swishing her fluffy tail. Aqua cleared his throat. "Aww Ricky, I'm sorry... Maybe next time, yeah?" I fell backwards on to my bed.

"But I don't want there to be a next time! I want there to be something now!" I whined. He let out a sigh.

"Okay, well... What exactly did she say?" he asked. So, I told them what had happened when we were walking home. Purry dismissed it as meaning nothing but still... She's a girl, she doesn't know what it's like!

"Aqua, what would you do if there was a girl you liked but she didn't like you?" I asked. He shuffled around a bit. "Uhh..." He sounded a little uncomfortable. 

Purry got closer to the phone. "Girl? AS IF! Aqua is totally gay, he just doesn't kno-" I heard a loud slap followed by a cry from her. I felt myself wince when it happened. 

"Hey I am not!" Aqua yelled. "Anyway, I think there comes a time when you have to let go. If she truly doesn't like you that is... She might even have a boyfriend already!" 

"She would have told us!" I shouted. "But... You do have a point..." I guess there isn't anything I can do about it. She's still my friend, at least. "Hey, um, you know..." Oh looks like Purry's back. "I could ask her if she's interested in anyone." I sat back up and started to smile.

"You would do that? For me?" 

"Yeah, it's fine. She would take it as girl gossip~" she giggled. 

"Oh thank you so much!" I smiled. Afterwards, we talked a little more before she had to leave. I spent the rest of my night feeling happy with myself. Though out of my excitement I think I forgot to do my homework...

The next day, I was still happy. I met up with my friends as usual and Purry gave me a wink. That tells me she hadn't forgotten at least! When we got to school, she led Amelia away. Aqua and I went to class without them. We sat at our desks and he turned to me.

"What are you going to do if she likes someone and it's not you?" he said. His face looked serious.

"Then, um..." I stopped to think. To be honest, I hadn't thought that far ahead. In fact, I never thought of the possibility of us not being together. Maybe I got a bit too far ahead of myself. I gave a shrug. 

"We'll find out maybe," he laughed. I playfully punched his arm and he started to rub where I hit. "Don't say that..." The classroom door opened as the two girls came in. They both had smiles on their faces but gave nothing away of the conversation they had. 

"So, what did we miss?" Amelia asked as she sat down. Aqua and I awkwardly looked at each other.

"We were just talking about homework..." he lied. She looked through her book and pulled out the homework sheet. She started to talk about it with him, who honestly didn't look like he wanted this conversation. While they were busy, Purry leaned in close.

"So... She does like someone," she whispered. My heart sank and they only thing I managed to say was: "oh." She gave me a kind smile.

"But you might still have a shot." 

It was now lunch time and there were students in every direction. We were all glad to finally be out of class. I went to my locker to grab my lunch. Today I was having a ham cheese sandwich! I was about to leave when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I was expecting it to be Aqua, so I turned around. But no. It was Amelia.

She sweetly smiled with her paws behind her back. "Can you come with me for a moment?" she asked. I put the sandwich back inside. "Yeah, sure."

She moved her paw to get me to follow and lead me away. We went behind the gym where she started to pace back and forth. No one was able to see us here though. I watched her walk until she stopped in her tracks. She took a deep breath and turned to me. 

"I'm sorry if this is too sudden, but do you like anyone?" 

I stood there stunned and had no idea what to tell her. I gulped. "Y-yeah..." Her shoulders tensed up but her expression didn't seem to change. She kept smiling. 

"I see," she said after a pause. "Then I apologise in advance for what I'm about to do."

"Wh-" I didn't have much time to guess what she meant. Because she soon had her lips on mine. Now excuse me for a moment... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Oh my god! She kissed me! 

It was only a quick kiss though because she soon let go. Her cheeks were now pink and she politely bowed. "I'm sorry..." She turned to walk away. 

Sometimes I like to think I'm cool. Like REAL cool. So, with that being said... I grabbed her by the paw and pulled her close. She squeaked in surprise and I kissed her again. She held on to my face and kissed me more. Now was that cool or what!? (Or am I just lame?)

"Amelia," I breathed and let her go. Her dark blue eyes were wide and the pinkness of her cheeks had grown. "Will you be my girlfriend?" 

She gave me another kind smile, her paws held together on her chest. "I would love to!" 


	3. Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqua's big secret finally comes out and Ricky isn't too sure what to think about it...

I had been dating Amelia for about two weeks now and I was happier than ever. Last weekend we met up and visited the art gallery together. It was an enjoyable time! But today it was Monday and we were back at school. 

...And that's where this story begins. I was sitting on the bench with Purry waiting for everyone else to arrive. She let out a loud yawn and covered her mouth with her paw. The others should be here soon so I don't think we will wait long. A loud jingling came around the corner and soon a little white and pink rabbit appeared. She skipped over and stopped in front of us, much like the other day. 

"Good morning!" Amelia smiled. 

"Morning!" Purry squeaked. I smiled at my girlfriend and she leaned in close and gave me a quick kiss. I didn't care that we were did it in front of someone~. Purry seemed to enjoy the show anyway. 

She stretched and hopped off the bench, her school bag neatly tied around her. "I hope Aqua comes here soon." 

"Maybe he slept in again," I suggested. When you get down to it, he can be pretty lazy. We stood around and waited for him. He soon came, running and panting. He dropped to his knees as he got his breath back.

"Hey... Sorry for the wait..." 

I gave him a kind smile. "Don't worry. It wasn't that long of a wait." With that, we finally made our way to school. The girls walked in front as they chatted and giggled. From what I could pick up, Amelia was telling Purry about the art gallery. I was walking side by side with Aqua. That's when I noticed he was acting oddly. He's usually a happy cheerful guy but today he seemed... quiet. Maybe something is bothering him?

I turned my head towards him. "Hey, is everything alright?"

He seemed slow and unsteady as he looked at me. "Huh?" Guess he didn't hear me.

"I said are you alright?" This time I said it louder. He took a gulp and smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I'm good. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seemed a little down," I replied. He laughed and told me there was no need to worry. I didn't know enough to press about it so I decided to leave it be. If he says so then it must be true. Right?

~~~

At school, the day seemed to go by like a breeze. Until lunch came around that is. Amelia, Purry and I were waiting for Aqua, the second time that day. Time seemed to go by slowly and Purry was growing impatient.   
"We've been here for ages! Where is he?"

"He might have had to talk to a teacher?" Amelia suggested. I shook my head. "That's not true. We just had class together." We decided to wait a little more but it was becoming clear he wasn't coming anytime soon. All our other friends were gone and eating lunch! Purry jumped to her paws, her striped tail swishing wildly. It surprised both Amelia and I.

"That's it!" she shouted. "Let's go looking for him!"

"Okay! We should spilt up and came back here in ten minutes. Hopefully with Aqua," Amelia squeaked with a nervous laugh. We decided where to go and then we all ran in opposite directions. I searched the classrooms, library and even the gym. But all I found were people I weren't looking for. I decided I might as well check the bathrooms, since I was looking everywhere. Besides, out of our trio search party, I was the only one allowed inside. 

I went into the one the closest to our lockers. There was graffiti all over the walls. The cleaners kinda gave up trying to get rid of it because it always came back! Anyway, this particular bathroom looked promising. Hoping it wasn't some random person, I decided to speak up.

"Uh... Aqua?"

"Ah!" I heard someone squeak. But not just anyone... It was Aqua! He carefully opened the door and came out to greet me. He looked at me with big sad eyes.

"We've been looking for you everywhere!" I said. "What have you been doing?" He shuffled his feet and looked to the floor. 

"Sorry about that... I've just been doing some thinking..." he said followed by a great big sigh. He was trying to avoid my eyes now. I put my paws in my pockets and bounced on my feet.

"Do... Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked. He kept silent as he thought about what to do. At last, he turned to look at me again.

"Okay. But it's something really important," he said. I was about to speak when he cut before me. "But you'll have to promise you won't think any different of me..." I let out a loud laugh.

"Of course not! You're my best friend!" His sad expression didn't seem to change much. I wonder what it is if he is asking me that? He took a deep breathe.

"Okay well, the thing is... I'm 100% certain that I'm, uh... That I'm gay."

"Ah," was all I said. But in all honesty, a million things were going through my head. I couldn't find the right words to say. Aqua looked up at me with pleading eyes, his paws clamped together. "That's okay, right?" I gritted my teeth.

"Uh... Yeah... That's okay." It wasn't okay. This was all a huge shock to me... I'm not sure what to think about it at the moment. Meanwhile, Aqua was ecstatic. He was jumping in the air and laughing. He calmed down and let out a happy sigh.

"Oh, that's a huge weight off my chest! Thank you so much!"

"Ehehe, no problem..." I said. He put his fingers to his mouth as if he was whispering. 

"Oh and one more thing... You're the first person I told so don't go telling anyone else, okay?" 

"S-sure, I wouldn't tell," I replied. He seemed happy enough with that response. "Anyway, we should meet with the girls now..."

"Ah, right!" he grinned. We left the bathroom and I led him to where we were to meet. Amelia and Purry were already there. They leapt out of their seats and ran to greet us.

"We were looking for you everywhere!" Purry shouted, flicking her tail. "Where were you!?"

"Ahaha, sorry about that!" Aqua replied, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. As he talked and laughed, he didn't give off any hints about what we talked about. Not sure if he was, but I was still thinking about. Thinking about things I probably shouldn't. I don't think Aqua would be happy if he heard them... But like I said, he's my best friend. I can get over it, can't I? For now at least, I'll keep quiet about everything.

~~~~~

It was the end of the school day and we were walking home. Amelia and Purry had already gone home at this point. So it was just Aqua and I. We walked in silence but Aqua was skipping along. He played hopscotch on seemingly nothing before tilting his head towards me. "How are you and Amelia going?"

"Pretty good. We went on a date last weekend," I replied, paws in my pockets.

"Sounds like fun!" he smiled and continued playing invisible hopscotch. I stopped in my tracks. At the time, I wasn't sure why I did. But when he smiled at me those bad thoughts I shouldn't have came back. He noticed I stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked and came closer towards me. Aw, crap. I need to think of a lie, stat!

"Uhh..." I looked at my phone. "Ah, I just remembered I have a dentist appointment!" 

"Oh dear! Will we make it in time?" he asked, a worried expression on his face.

"No need! I'm going right now!" I shouted and started to run off. 

"Huuh!? The dentist is this way!" he yelled back and pointed in the direction we were already walking in.

"Shortcut!" I waved goodbye and sprinted it out of there. This wasn't a shortcut actually. I didn't have a dentist appointment either. But I needed to leave to clear my head. I'm a bit of a jerk sometimes...

On my long walk home (I got lost!), Aqua called me a couple times. I didn't pick up and left it to voicemail. I got home and retreated to my room. I collapsed on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I felt uncertain about everything but I was away from him so it's okay. I didn't want to let something silly ruin our friendship. I felt a buzz in my jacket's pocket. It was my phone again. I decided to answer it this time.

"Uh hey..."

"Hey! How was your trip to the dentist?" Aqua said. 

"The wha- Oh, uh, yeah! It was good!" Damn it, I almost forgot my own lie! Aqua made a sound that showed he was interested. I bet if he was in front of me he would have some sort of cheeky smile on his face. He isn't all that stupid so I don't think I managed to fool him... I heard him shuffle about.

"So, what did you need to go there for?" he asked. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"J-just a check up... Nothing major..." I said. 

"That's good to hear," he said and I could tell he was smirking, "considering it was a fake dentist appointment." I stood up straight on the bed. 

"Y-you could tell?" I confessed and my cheeks were turning red in embarrassment. He already figured it out so there's no use in fighting about it. He made a self-assured noise before continuing. "Yeah, what the hell was that about!?" And now he's angry...

"Oh, what's it to you? So what if I left!" I scoffed.

"You've been acting weird all day ever since I..." he fell silent. He gasped as soon as it started. When he spoke he sounded mad but mostly disappointed. "I get it now. I know what this is about."

"Y-you do?" I stammered. 

"It's because I told you I was gay, isn't it?" 

...I don't know what came over me but I hung up then and there. I didn't even give myself time to explain... I'll regret this when I meet him at school. For now, I lifted up the sheets and crawled into bed. I don't feel like dinner. I'll just go to bed early...

~~~~~

At school, we ignored each other for a while. Amelia and Purry didn't exactly suspect anything about it. After recess we were forced to interact because we had assigned seats next to each other. I wasn't sure what to say... I should apologise, I know that, but it was hard to get anything out. "So," Aqua said at last. "Are you upset with me?" He looked rather upset himself. 

I looked down at my blank piece of paper. I had been wondering what to say so much that I couldn't get any work done. "I... Well, it's a lot to take in..." He curled his lip in annoyance. 

"Why? It's not like I said I liked you or anything," he said and then stood up taller. "Which, for the record, I don't!" I thought about this for a minute. That is true... I tapped my pencil on the desk.

"I know... It's just a little..." I paused to think of what word to use. "It's a little weird." That was most definitely the wrong word to say. Saying that made Aqua flip out. A time machine would be handy right about now! 

He slammed his paws on the desk and looked mad. The maddest I had ever seen him. "Ehhh... Weird, you say? No, it's okay. I guess I'm the fool for ever trusting you." He turned his head away with a dramatic flair. 

"Hey, you can trust me!" I pleaded. His eyes looked me up and down.

"Oh really? Your attitude says otherwise..."

"You're the one with the attitude!" I shouted. The teacher told us to quite down. I guess we were making quite the scene... Aqua sighed and pushed his chair away from the desk.

"Whatever... I don't feel so well... I'm going home," he said. He stood up and left the room, leaving me behind.

It was lunch now and Aqua was well and truly gone. It was just me and the girls again. Huh... The same as yesterday. "Aw what a shame!" Purry wailed when I told them where he went. "I hope he feels better soon."

"Yeah, me too," Amelia said in agreement. "I hope it isn't anything se- Where are you going?" Aqua kinda left me in a bad mood. But it made me think of the most genius plan. If everyone knew, then I wouldn't have to worry about it. It would make me feel so much better too. I walked to the front where everyone could see me. Lunch had started so it was packed to the brim. I stood up nice and tall and shouted as loud as I could.

"Hey everyone! Aqua's gay!" 

...It went silent. No one moved or said a word. Everyone was frozen in place. I got down from my pedestal and walked over to my friends. Movement started again as gossip filled the air. Amelia was rummaging through her pockets for something. 

"Aw man..." she sighed in defeat. "I owe Purry 20$ now..." Purry had a cheeky grin on her face and wrapped her tail around her paws. I was taken aback. She knew!?

"No!" she shouted. "It was just a hunch." 

I crossed my arms. "Right... Anyway, now that's sorted everything is alright with the world." I felt somewhat relieved and accomplished. Maybe I did Aqua some sort of favor. No one seemed to care much. Not that I was able to hear what everyone was gossiping about. Besides the owing-Purry-20$ thing, what happened processed in Amelia's head. She was deep in thought and looked at me with her beautiful blue eyes. 

"Did he want you to do that?" she said. 

"Does it really matter?" I shrugged with a dry smile. 

She frowned. "It does," she replied. "Did he want you to or not?" Geez, what's the big deal? I made a vague motion that told her 'no'. Which I soon found out was the wrong thing to say. Amelia turned furious. I-I've never seen her so angry! Or angry at all!

"Oh, that changes everything! I don't care if something happened between you two, that's something you shouldn't ever do! Aqua should have a say whether or not he wants to come out!" 

What's this 'come out' thing mean? Anyway, she gave me this big long lecture that I told me what I did was terrible. Okay, maybe I was wrong about everything... She grabbed me by the shoulders and glared. 

"After school, I want you to see Aqua in person and apologize!" 

"Alright, alright... I will..."

~~~

Amelia refused to walk home with me so for the first time, I was truly alone. I don't like being alone. It's no fun. I was going to stay true to my word and see Aqua but first... I'll make a quick pit stop. Downtown, there's this amazing retro diner. I go there often for a food and a chat. I'm pretty friendly with a waitress there!

The door made a jingling sound as I entered. A deer with curly whipped cream-like hair greeted me. "Just you today?" she asked. I nodded and she led me to a seat. Sometimes my friends came here with me. The deer, who's name is Rosie, got out a pen and paper. She was dressed in the diners pink uniform. "What can I get you?"

"Uh, a cola is fine. I actually wanted to talk," I said. Rosie blushed.

"Y-yes... Just a moment," she replied and scampered off. She can be quick to fluster, but she is an excellent waitress. She quickly returned and gave me my drink. She stood at my booth swaying side to side, pretending to work. "So... What did you want to talk about?"

I took a sip and looked her in the eyes. "Do you know anyone that's gay?" Rosie's face went redder than it already was. Her mouth was agape in surprise. 

"I-i-i-i-i-i d-don't think so!" she stammered. "W-w-why?" I took a long sip while deciding exactly what to tell her. Leaving names out, I told her everything that happened. The redness from her face vanished and she looked at me with kind understanding eyes. "Well, I think Girl A is right. You should go apologize to your friend. What you did wasn't very nice."

I looked inside the half empty glass. "But-" she added and my ears perked up. "I can understand how you feel. Your friend must have known that too. He must trust you a whole lot. That's why he had the courage to tell you. I'm not calling you selfish, but you should be able to understand his feelings." It's rare to see Rosie talk with such confidence. It must be because she believes what she's saying. I placed the glass down and fished out the appropriate amount from my school bag. I placed it down in front of her.

"Thanks for that. For the drink and the talk."

"Y-you're welcome..." she blushed and started to clean up. I waved goodbye and went to my next destination. 

The sun was starting to set now, the sky a slight orange. I stood at Aqua's door and knocked. His mother answered the door and she seemed surprised to see me. She went to get Aqua for me. He didn't take much time to get there. He crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame.

"Oh, it's you..." he said with narrowed eyes. 

"Uh, yeah..." I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. I then stood up straight. "Aqua, I'm sorry." 

"Huh?" He blinked as if what I said was unbelievable. 

"I'm sorry for how I was acting. I've come to terms with my feelings and realised that I was wrong. Gay or not, you're still my best friend." Aqua looked at me with eyes sparkling. 

"So, we're still friends?" he asked. 

"Of course," I smiled. He jumped in the air and made loud whooping noises. He lunged towards me and brought me into a big tight hug. Hugs are nice. 

"Sorry for getting all angry too," he said. I shook my head and told him it didn't matter. Yay, we're friends and everything again! Except for one little (okay, more like big) thing... I gently pushed him away and nervously played with my fingers.

"Uh... It's great and all that we made up and stuff but... There's something I need to tell you..."

"Oh? What would that be?" Aqua said, looking up at me with innocent eyes. I cleared my throat. Here goes nothing...

"I might've, um... I might've maybe told the whole entire school you were gay."

"You did WHAT!?" To be honest, after Amelia's reaction I was kinda expecting something like this. Aqua, understandably, was very very mad. He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me violently. 

"Do you have any idea what you've done!?" he yelled.

"Uh... Not exactly," I shrugged. With a groan, he gave himself a face palm. "Everyone took it surprisingly well, though!" I said in an attempt to reassure him. He looked at me with suspicious eyes.

"Really?" he said. I nodded and the anger vanished from his face. He let me go and shook off his hands. "I-I guess it's alright then. Don't pull anything like that again." 

"Ahaha, sorry, I promise," I laughed. I stayed at his house for a bit and we talked about what happened. He was still peeved about what I did but I'm sure he'll get over it eventually. The best thing is that we're friends! That's all that matters in my book.


	4. The New Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new student is coming to Forestville High! Everyone's excited and although she seems nice, Ricky and friends can't help but feel she is hiding something...

Today we were excited. Last Friday, Miss Loveheart had told us a new student was going to be in our class. We were busy thinking about what they would be like all weekend. Purry was certainly having fun with it.

"I hope they are hot! If they're a boy, I mean," she said on our way to school. She happily swished her fluffy tail to and fro as we walked.

"All you think about is boys!" Aqua scoffed.

"Nah-uh!" She lashed her tail and they had a little fight which is kinda typical for them. Amelia nervously scratched her cheek amidst it all.

"Well... I just hope they are kind." Personally, I wasn't expecting too much but it's always nice to have a fresh new face around! We live in a small town after all, so we don't get many new people moving in. We turned the corner and the school was much louder than it usually is. A big crowd had formed on the court.

"I guess the new guy came," I thought aloud.

"You must be right, Ricky. Let's go look!" Amelia squeaked and we ran to join the forming crowd. We squeezed through to the centre. I don't remember this many people at my school... Where did they all come from!? Anyway the new person, much to Purry's dismay, wasn't a boy. They were a guinea pig girl with a fringe so long you couldn't see her eyes. Her fur was grey with orange and darker grey patches. Around her neck was a cute pink collar with a carrot charm. She seemed to be enjoying the attention she was getting. Purry shuffled closer.

"Hi! Are you the new person?"

The guinea pig turned to look at us. Although her eyes weren't visible, you could tell she was looking us up and down. She put her hands on her hips in a confident pose.

"Yes, that's me! The name's Charlotte!"

"Nice to meet you!" Amelia said. We shook paws and introduced ourselves. Charlotte was very friendly and not shy at all. She seemed to be settling in well. Eventually a teacher yelled at us to get to class. The crowd slowly dispersed, almost like it was never there to begin with. My friends and I also started to walk away.

"Wait!" Charlotte shouted. We turned to look.

"What's the matter?" I asked. She shuffled her pink feet around.

"Well, you know... I don't know my way around the school so I need someone to show me..." She stared at us with her paws in a pleading motion. Amelia giggled.

"Okay! Follow us and we will show you the way!"

"Alright!" she shouted and jumped in the air. She ran up to us and tagged along. Showing the new kid around should be fun! Nothing bad can come out of that! Right!?

During class, we showed Charlotte around the school. It's a good thing she didn't have the text books! We showed her the school library, which is where she was able to get her text books. It's a rather small library but it's filled to the brim with amazing books. I don't read much but I have found some hidden gems in there! Charlotte thought it was pretty good and was amazed by it's size.

"Wow!" she gasped. "It's so much smaller than my old school's library!"

"Oh yeah? What was your old school like?" Aqua asked, hands on hips. She fell silent and stared at nothing in particular. We stared at her waiting for a response. Amelia even waved her paw in front of her face. She stood back in surprise.

"Ah! It was good," she said at last. She brushed her paws through her hair. "Where to next?"

"I guess we can show you the gym while we're at it..." Amelia said, twirling her hair in her fingers. Charlotte waltzed outside the door and Amelia and Purry followed. I turned to Aqua, who shrugged. That was quite a dismissive response... Maybe something happened at her old school?

After the small tour was finished, we went back to class. This was supposed to be English class but not much work was being done. Everyone was too excited about the new student! Everyone crowded around her desk, asking questions and trying to make friends. A lot of the questions were about her old school but like before, she dismissed them all. She didn't give us much information about it. No one else seemed to be bothered but I was starting to. I think my friends felt the same way.

Purry let out a sigh. "What's up? Jealous?" Aqua asked, a slight smirk on his lips. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm just curious. About Charlotte's old school, that is." Amelia pivoted around on her seat, holding a pink pencil to her lips.

"Me too..." she said, her blue eyes staring vacantly. "But if she doesn't want to talk about it, then we shouldn't force her to." Purry glanced at the clock that hang on the classroom wall. Oh, it's going to be recess soon! Like, in five minutes.

"We'll see~," she grinned. The bell rang and everyone packed up their belongings. Charlotte seemed to taken to following us, so she was right behind us. That's fine, I (and Purry) wanted to talk more. We went to where we usually sat at recess and lunch, under the big tree on the grassy oval. Charlotte joined us under the shade. We ate our food, having small conversations about random topics. Purry patted her mouth with a napkin and cleared her throat.

"So... Why did you decide to move to Forestville? We're not exactly note-worthy, ahehe..." She turned to Charlotte and laughed.

"That's not true! This place is great!" Charlotte grinned and stood up, throwing her arms in the air. She twirled around in a circle. "This place has such good fresh air! And also it was the closest to my other place..."

"Where did you used to live?" I asked. At this point, we were all starting at her intetnly. She seemed to like the attention, even if we were asking rather personal questions. She pointed to the right, although no where in particular.

"The next town over! The one close to the city!"

"Oh, Rosie from the diner lives there. You might know her," I said. Meanwhile, Purry was mumbling next to me about wanting to live near the city.

"Did you have friends?" Aqua squeaked. Charlotte puffed her cheeks out and puffed out some air.

"Of course! You think I'm some sort of loner!?" She crossed her arms rather angrily. Amelia gently put down her food and looked up.

"It must feel sad to leave your friends behind..." she said with a sad smile. Charlotte mumbled and nodded with a smile. Perhaps that's why she was being dismissive before? She just felt upset about leaving all her friends at her old school... I stood up and put an arm around her.

"At least you can make new ones!"

"Ahaha, yeah! But get off of me!" she joked around and pushed me off. The bell for the end of recess sounded shortly after. We picked up our things and went back to class, Charlotte following close behind.

~~~~

Class was as you would expect. Nothing all that exciting but it's what you got to do. For the first period, Charlotte was following us but then by the second she just kinda... disappeared. None of us had any idea on where she ran off to. Don't tell me she's ditching already!? It's only her first day! Sometime later she came back again. This time with Grapefruit.

Grapefruit is... They're kinda weird. They are a small orange dog who sits at the back of class. They don't talk that much but when they do, oh boy, they are aggressive. They don't take no for an answer and they are always bossing someone around. To be fair, they are only 14 but I don't know how much of that to blame on adolescence... They are also a troublemaker, so definitely a bad influence for Charlotte! How dare they make her cause mischief already! I shook my head in disapproval but I don't think either of them noticed.

When lunch came around, Charlotte showed us her new friend. "Look who I found!" she squeaked, making a motion like she was presenting something. Grapefruit looked at us with a cheeky grin. I already don't trust that smile...

"I'm glad you're making friends, Charlotte, but um..." Amelia said with a nervous laugh. "Grapefruit's a bit..."

"We already know them so no need to introduce us," Purry huffed, swishing her tail. Charlotte either couldn't take the hint or was pretending to not notice. She said she was glad that part was over with. Then Grapefruit's true colours started to show. They stepped forward, looked at us up and down and smirked.

"Oh? You've been hanging out with these losers all day? Surely you can do better than that!" they shouted.

"You shouldn't be too picky on your first day," she replied. Wait, is she agreeing with them!? They turned to me.

"You, you're a try-hard." Then Purry. "You should get a better mirror, honey." And lastly Amelia. "You need to face the music and realise life isn't all sunshine and rainbows! Oh, you're a little annoying too."

"Hey!" she shouted. Actually, we were all feeling angry. We stared at them with a glare and I even had my paws on my hips. Everyone but Aqua that is.

"I've heard a lot about you," they said, narrowing their purple eyes as they stared at him. They swished their head to the other side dismissively. "I guess you're alright." Aqua burst into tears! Wait, what!?

"Wh-why are you crying!? That was pretty nice actually!" I wailed and rubbed his back. He rubbed the tears out of his eyes.

"I'm sorry, It's just that..." he sniffed. "Besides you guys, that's the first person who's been kind to me since the incident..."

"Incident?" Charlotte echoed. Oh, so now she speaks up! She watched us all get insulted and did nothing about it! Aqua seemed to have bounced back already.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I should tell you," he started. "I'm gay. If you've got anything bad to say about it, say it now. But trust me, I've probably heard it a thousand times already~!"

She wasn't fazed and instead said: "Oh, it's not that. I was more thinking 'yeah, that makes sense'."

"What's that supposed to mean!? You've only just met me!!" With Amelia desperately holding him back, he got real mad and started shouting at her. Purry was laughing hysterically on the floor saying something along the lines of: "it's true, it's true!" I let out a heavy sigh.

"Say, Grapefruit," I said. "You seem to get along well. Has Charlotte told you anything about her old school?" Aqua's shouting stopped and everyone turned to look. Grapefruit slowly wagged their tail. "Nothing that important."

Charlotte clapped her paws together and made us jump. "Okay! I think the bell will be going soon. We should get a head start!"

"That's a good idea," Amelia replied and closed her lunchbox. So, she's still being weird about it... The school day was almost over. Will we be able to uncover the truth by then?

The answer is: not really. We didn't want to be too nosy, obviously, so it was hard to decide what to say. We tried to drop some hints here and there but she didn't say anything noteworthy. Also, Grapefruit was now shadowing her wherever she went.

It was home time now and we had given up for the day. Maybe tomorrow! I shoved my books into my bag and zipped it up. I ran towards where my friends were waiting.

"Ready to go?" I asked with a smile.

"Yes!" Amelia grinned. We turned to leave when some footsteps came towards us.

"Wait a second!" It was... Charlotte and Grapefruit! Since it was the end of the day I thought we got rid of them. Apparently not.

"What's the matter?" Aqua said. They looked at each other, spoke telepathically I guess, and turned to us.

"We want someone to escort us home. You can't leave a girl and a little dog to walk home alone!" Charlotte squeaked.

"Well... This town is pretty safe, actually," Amelia nervously laughed. With that all said and done, they were insistent that someone walked them home. I understand if Charlotte felt a little nervous because this is a new place for her... But what's Grapefruit's excuse? They should know their way around town!

Purry's ears perked up and she looked at her paw, like she was looking at a watch. "Oh, would you look at the time! I have music practice to go to!" She darted away.

"I-I do too!" Aqua shouted and ran after her. They don't have music practice... It's an excuse to get away!

"I have a lot of homework to do, sorry. Maybe some other time," Amelia said and bowed. And then I was left on my own. Charlotte and Grapefruit pleaded for me to come. With her this close, I was able to see Charlotte's cute brown eyes. I shrugged.

"Alright, I'll come. Where do you guys live?"

As it turns out they live on the more... unsightly side of town. Although what Amelia said about the town being safe is true, if something terrible were to happen it probably would happen here. There's kinda a small gang of sorts that hangs around here. I've also heard that Ayo from class fights a lot with them... I hope we don't run into him...

"S-so, you live out here, huh?" I said, trying as hard as I could to hide how anxious I was.

"Isn't it cozy?" Charlotte squeaked in happiness. Both her and Grapefruit laughed. Uhh... We've been walking for quite a while... How far in are their houses? We turned a corner and heard a sound. It sounded suspiciously like two people fighting... I didn't want to but those two wanted to investigate... As it turns out it was Ayo and some other guy I've never seen. Welp, I tried to avoid him. In his hands was a wooden baseball bat with nails stuck in it. It looks like the fight was over because the other guy scampered off, whimpering.

"Who's pretty boy?" Charlotte said.

"Ayo," Grapefruit replied. "Isn't it so cool that he fights and stuff!? I asked him if he would teach me how but he told me to go away..."

"Oh, really..."

"A-anyway, we should be going and- Wait, no! Don't go up to him!" Charlotte was cheerfully skipping towards Ayo. Oh no, this is bad! Her first day and she's going to get beat up already! But what actually happened... I couldn't make it up even if I tried.

Charlotte stood in front of him with the sweetest smile I've ever seen. That smile twisted into a devilish grin. With one swift motion, she grabbed him by the arm and sent him flying in the air. He landed with a loud thud on the concrete. His baseball bat landed shortly after, making a similar sound. Both mine and Grapefruit's jaws dropped to the floor. We couldn't believe our eyes! Ayo was seeing stars on the ground so I bet he's thinking the same. She picked up the bat and looked it over in her paws.

"I guess I should tell you why I moved schools. I got expelled," she said and stood on top of him, making him grunt in response. "Because I stabbed a chick!" She threw her arms in the air and cackled. She looked like the reveal of the villain in some action packed movie. I was stunned with what I heard but everything she was doing today made sense. She didn't tell us straight away because she didn't want to scare us. ...Is what I would like to think but that's certainly out of the window now. She has scared me, anyway!

"Wa-haa! So cool!" Grapefruit's eyes glittered in amazement. Cool!? Are we seeing the same thing!? They ran over to her side, looking very happy. They bounced around her legs and practically begged she teach them how to do that (what's with their obsession with learning how to fight?). Ayo raised his head and with one shaky arm pointed towards Charlotte.

"Give that back..." he said, his voice trailing off a little at the end.

"Oh this? This is yours?" she teased and looked the bat over once more. "Would you look at that! It even has your name engraved in it! Well, Ayo, I'm sorry. I rule this place now~." I'm not sure what she's talking about. It got Grapefruit cheering though. She outstretched her hand and the bat landed next to where Ayo lay. She picked up her school bag, put it over her shoulders and turned in the other direction.

"Bye, Ricky! Thanks for walking with us. See you at school!" she waved. Then she left, with Grapefruit by her side. The sounds of them showering her in compliments started to fade. I still stood frozen in place, shocked. What Charlotte did had left me completely speechless. Ayo's groans brought me back to reality. I shook my head and clapped my hands on my cheeks.

"Need a hand?" I said and outstretched my hand towards him. He said nothing but he did hold hands. I pushed him up and got him back on his feet (though he was a little taller than what I was anticipating...). But while doing that, something caught my eye. On Ayo's arms were white bandages. I never paid much attention to it but now that I think about it I've always seen him wearing them. As I said, they should be white but instead they were turning red.

"Ah, you're bleeding!" I shouted. ...Huh? But why? Charlotte had nothing sharp with her and that looks like a funny place to bleed after being thrown on the ground. He looked away and quickly covered it up with the sleeve of his blue hoodie.

"It's nothing..." he mumbled. I decided not to ask about it. Now this situation felt awkward. I bounced on my feet and put my paws in my pockets.

"So... Since we're both here, want to walk home together?"

"I'm not a child. I can get home on my own," Ayo snapped and gave me a frown.

"Fair enough. See you at school," I said and booked it out of there. I didn't want to stick around to see what he would do next.

When I finally got home, I decided to give Aqua a call.

"Hey, Ricky! What's up?"

"Dude, you'll never guess what I just saw."


	5. The Problem Boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Purry starts to date her long time crush, Ayo. She's happiest as can be but Ayo is less than willing to become friends with the rest of her friends. Ricky, Amelia and Aqua try to win over his friendship.

It had been about a week since Charlotte moved in and things were going well. ....Actually, no, that's a lie. After that brief scuffle with Ayo, she had made her true colours show. Now she is known as the school's resident delinquent along with Grapefruit. The excitement of a new student had worn off and it was almost like she was always here. Back to the usual daily grind!

It was lunch time when Purry let out a troubled sigh. We all stopped what we were doing and looked at her, as it was rather sudden.

"What's up?" I asked. 

"Oh, it's nothing..." she said and sighed once more. Her striped tail was moving absentmindedly and Amelia had a frown on her face. She shuffled closer to the cat. 

"If there's something bothering you, you should tell us. We won't make fun of you," Amelia told her. Purry's yellow eyes scanned over us before she nodded.

"Okay, fine... I'm just thinking about the boy I like..."

"Ah... Ayo, is it?" Aqua said. A small smile appeared on her face and she started telling us how amazing she thought he was. I bet she would change her mind if she saw what Charlotte did to him... That aside, she was clearly madly in love with him. Amelia smiled and brought her pink paws to her chest.

"If you feel that strongly about him, why don't you ask him out?" 

Purry shook her head. "I can't do that! I'm so out of his league..."

"That's not true!" I exclaimed. "You're a pretty girl, Ayo should feel special to have a girl like you!" 

"I don't know..." I don't know what she's so worried about. In my opinion, Ayo's the one out of her league! Though beside seeing his ass get handed to him, I don't actually know that much about him. If they do start dating, maybe we could get to know about each other a little better? Amelia and Aqua were trying to convince her to give it a shot. 

"You'll never know unless you try!" Amelia squeaked. "I mean, you saw what happened with me and Ricky, yeah?" 

"Yeah, yeah! If Amelia hadn't made that move, Ricky would still be pining over her!" Aqua shouted and I punched him in the arm. He gave me a cheeky look as he rubbed where I hit. Purry tilted her head to the side as she thought it over. 

"Hmm... Okay!" she smiled. "I'll ask him out after school!" 

"Good luck!" 

The rest of the school day went by quickly. At the end of the day, my friends and I gathered at the school gates as we waited for everybody. Purry skipped over, but she wasn't going to walk home with us. She gave a determined nod, we gave her some thumbs up and then she left. Only tomorrow we will find out how it went. 

The very next day, Purry wasn't waiting for us where we usually meet. The three of us waited a bit but decided to walk to school without her. Good thing we did, because she was sitting in front of the school's gate. She had a very self-satisfied smile on her face.

"Good morning!" Amelia greeted. "Did it go well?"

"Hm hm! Guess who has a boyfriend now!" she replied. 

"Aw, congrats Purry!" We all cheered and clapped for her. 

"So, where is he?" I asked. With a swish of her striped tail, she led us away. We went past our lockers and Amelia was worried we would be late for class. Eventually we stopped in front of the sports shed. It's pretty hidden away from the rest of the school. From what I do know about him, it's no wonder Ayo hangs out around here... Speaking of which, he stood right in front of us but he didn't acknowledged our presence much. Purry gleefully skipped forward. 

"Friends, this is Ayo! Ayo, friends!" 

"Hey, we're not total strangers!" Aqua squeaked. 

"It's nice to meet you," Amelia smiled. Ayo said nothing but he did wave in our general direction. The school bell rung and like good boys and girls, we were about to make a move. Since we're already here, I suggested we go to class together. I figured it would be a pretty good plan to get some conversation out of Ayo. Instead, Purry shook her head.

"Uh, actually... We were going to stay behind for just a little bit..."

We took the hint and ran out of there as soon as the words left her mouth. Well, I hope they had fun... We decided not to talk about it when they waltzed back into class. 

For the rest of the day, Ayo tagged along with us. Something tells me he didn't want to because he disappeared at every chance he got. Purry always found him though. How did she pick up on all his hiding places so fast? After about the fifth time, Amelia had enough and took matters into her own hands (or paws?)

"We're all here so let's have a chat. Ayo, what do you do for fun?" she said.

"Well," he said, and that's the first I've heard him speak all day, "You wouldn't be interested." 

"So? I don't care about Ricky's music half the time but I still listen to him," Aqua said. Note to self: stop talking about music to Aqua. Meanwhile, Purry was smiling at us as she held on to her boyfriend. He swished his hair out of his (might I add) gorgeous blue eyes. 

"I guess I do like picking fights with people..." 

The air turned heavy and Amelia and Aqua stood stiffly. Purry didn't react and I already knew anyway. "O-oh... Sounds... fun..." Ayo stared blankly.

"Uhm... What about some more normal hobbies? N-not that it's weird or anything..." Aqua asked and twiddled his thumbs. He stopped to think and it looked like he was actually giving it some thought. Like before, he swished his hair out of his eyes and stared blankly.

"I watch anime sometimes I guess..."

Amelia's face lit up and she hopped to her feet. "R-really!? Me too! Do you like _Mahou Shoujo Koneko-chan_!?" _Mahou Shoujo Koneko-chan_ is the hottest new magical girl anime taking the world by storm. School girl by day, magical girl by night, Koneko-chan saves the day! ...I've actually never seen it. I know Amelia seems to like it though. She even has a stuffed toy of the mascot character from it. A light blush had started to form on her cheeks.

"Now that I've said it out loud, it's probably too girly for you, huh..." she said. Ayo, master of words, didn't reply. 

"I'm so glad we're becoming good friends!" Purry squeaked. We hang our heads. It felt almost insulting to hear her say that. This felt more like an one-sided conversation to me! How does she do it? Surely they must talk about something! The bell for the end of lunch echoed through out the school courtyards. We packed up our stuff and left the two love birds alone. 

At the end of day, we were exhausted. Purry had ditched our usual seating arrangements and sat next to Ayo instead. That's fine, nothing wrong with it. Us remaining three also moved seats to be closer to them. We wanted to make some more conversation with Ayo. It was like talking to a brick wall. Not that he's stubborn, but because he doesn't say much and isn't all that expressive. 

Now that it's home time, we were glad it was over. Purry looked at our tired faces and gave a warm smile. "Bye bye! I'm going to be with Ayo so I'll see you all tomorrow!"

"See you..." I replied. She turned tail and bounded away. When she was out of ear shot, Aqua groaned. Loud.

"Well, that was pointless..." 

"Ehehe... Purry seems to like him though. Maybe he's shy," Amelia said. 

"You think so?" I asked while pondering the possibility of it. "Well, it is the first day. Hopefully Ayo feels like talking more tomorrow. He might've been in a bad mood or something." Aqua stared to laugh.

"I too would be in a bad mood the day after Purry became my girlfriend!" he chuckled and wiped the happy tears from his eyes. "I'm just kidding. Don't tell her I said that." We laughed back and walked home together. 

Now that I'm home, I cooped myself up in my room doing homework. Okay, that's a lie, I'm sorry. What I'm actually doing is researching conversation starters. Which, now that I've said it, sounds dumb. Obviously I know how to talk to people. There's nothing much to it, right? All I want to do is get Ayo out of his shell somehow. So by researching a little about it, hopefully I can achieve that! I only hope he doesn't mind telling me what his favourite colour or food is... 

~~~~~~~~

It had been about a month now and whatever progress we have made, it's very small. Ayo's attitude towards us hadn't changed in the slightest. I also think he might've gotten annoyed at the boring mundane things we kept asking him... Purry, however, is the happiest she's ever been and I'm also happy for her. It's great that she's found someone she loves! As for the rest of us, we have kept hopeful and looking forward to blossoming our friendship together. ...Don't look at me! I got those words from Amelia! 

Anyway, here we are again at recess. Both Purry and Ayo leave class early and make out behind the library. A teacher caught them once but that's not important. Then they meet us under the tree we usually hang out at. Amelia always greets them with a smile and after a few minutes, we start encouraging Ayo to talk. More like bothering him, really... 

"So", Amelia cleared her throat, "we've established you like anime. What kind of anime do you like?" He stared at us blankly for a while and then slowly opened his mouth.

"Uhhh... A-anything..." Ahaha... I think we made him embarrassed... At least that's a different emotion than absolutely nothing! Amelia urged him to tell us more but he gave some very vague answers in responses. I don't think I want to know what 'anything' actually entails. Next, was Aqua's turn. 

"Do you play video games too?" 

"Sometimes..."

"I have an idea!" he shouted. "We should play together sometime! What do you play?" He bounced up and down in his seat and Ayo was now avoiding our eyes. Purry made a snort sound and swished her striped tail.

"Um... Let's talk about something more interesting. Actually, why don't you all leave? I want to us to be alone," she said, her cheeks blushing red. Her paws were wrapped around her boyfriend and if I'm being honest, he didn't look all that thrilled. Her face was leaned in close and their lips were almost touching. 

Amelia got to her feet. "Yes, I think we should. Ricky, Aqua, let's go." 

"Coming!" We rushed to our feet and walked off. 

"I have some words I would like to say to Ayo..." Amelia whispered as we walked off.

Class was a drag but what else is new? It would be better if Mr. Smith didn't sound so droning. Also he's like super old, I bet he's as old as the school itself! After what felt like a million years, it was now lunch time. Everybody rushed out the classroom as soon as they could. I put my books away, got my food then met up with my friends. It looked like it was just me, Amelia and Aqua. We didn't mind much, and started to make conversation.

We heard a high pitched giggle and Purry and her boyfriend came into view. They seemed to be in a good mood. And when I say 'they', I mean Purry. Ayo's face is hard to read... They plopped their butts down in front of us. They brought lunch too but my feline friend was too busy giving affections to eat it. 

"There is something I would like to discuss," Amelia said. Purry's giggling stopped and we all turned towards her. 

"Okay... What is it?" 

She stood up and gently brushed the dirt from her skirt. "Ayo," she said, pointing a finger towards him, "I don't mind that you hang out with us. In fact, I think it's quite nice! But it wouldn't hurt you to talk to us and get to know us." 

"Um, excuse me!" Purry snorted. "If I recall, you're always talking and it's never anything interesting!"

"To be fair, we start those conversations," Aqua laughed. Purry snapped and made him shut up. I'll just see where this goes... I don't want to make them mad. Ayo hadn't said a word, even though we're all talking about him. 

"I just think he should make more of an effort. I don't want to seem strict, but that's the least he can do if he wants to be with us," Amelia continued to explain. 

"Oh? Maybe he doesn't want to," Purry said, a sly smile on her lips. "You're just jealous because my boyfriend's hotter than yours." 

"Excuse me... I'm right here..." If you're talking about me you should at least acknowledge my presence if I'm there! And don't get me started on the insult! 

"I don't care if my boyfriend is attractive or not!" Amelia yelled. "At least he actually talks to me and looks at me when he kisses me!" It fell silent and no one moved a muscle. A growl left Purry's mouth and she narrowed her eyes. Ayo stood up and Amelia's face contorted into sudden horror.

"Wait, Ayo... I-I didn't mean-" And as silent as he came, he ran away. Purry gave a glare towards us, stuck her tongue out then ran off after him, shouting at him to come back. It became quiet again as we watched them leave. Amelia was staring at her feet, looking very crestfallen. 

"That went well," Aqua said, breaking the silence. I punched him in the arm, this time much harder. He squeaked in pain and Amelia started to sniff as a small tear rolled down her cheek. I went over to her and put my arms around her.

"It's okay, it's okay! It's just a little argument, it'll be fine!" 

"It won't be fine... I said something that I shouldn't... I'm awful..." 

"No, don't worry! Let's forget it ever happened and it will be fine tomorrow!" She stared at me blankly with big sad eyes. Okay well, it won't be fine just like that... But we can take steps to make it fine!

"Why don't you apologise to them the next time we see them both? Then it will be a-okay!" I said.

"You think it would be that easy?" she asked. 

"I don't know about Ayo, but Purry should take it fine. We're her friends after all," I smiled warmly. She still didn't look sure and shuffled her feet around. Aqua bounced up from beside me, also with a big smile.

"She's not one to hold a grudge anyway. She'll forgive you and I'm sure Ayo would too!" he squeaked. The brightness from Amelia's face returned and her lips formed into a cute little smile. She enthusiastically nodded, her pigtails bobbing with her head. 

"Hm! You're right! Let's go do that!" 

Now in high spirits, we packed up our things and ran to class (the bell had rang, anyway). Maybe a little fight is what we need to all become closer friends together? I have high hopes about this! 

The two love birds had apparently skipped the rest of school because we didn't see them for what was left of the day. This made Amelia a little sad but she cheered up when I told her there's always tomorrow. Sleeping on it might help actually. We agreed to all come to school early and hopefully meet them before we need to go to class. I better get all my homework done as soon as I come home or I'll be up all night! 

~~~~~~~

The next day, I met Amelia and Aqua at the school gates. Well, if I'm telling the truth, I met Amelia there and Aqua came, like, ten minutes after. We lost a little bit of time but that's okay. While waiting, we hadn't seen either Ayo or Purry arrive so we decided to look for them around school. 

First we checked the lockers, and while we were at it we put our bags away. Only a handful of people were waiting around there, but none that we wanted. Aqua suggested to look behind the library since that's where they usually are. So, we did just that. I hope we don't see something we don't want to see! I don't want to look at other people while they kiss (...What? Did you think I meant something else?). 

It turns out, no one was there. A little disappointing but it's alright! We were about to look else where, when Amelia started to sprint in the opposite direction. 

"Ayo! Ayo, please wait!" Just like fate, he suddenly showed up! Aqua and I ran after her to catch up to her. Ayo had stopped and he seemed to be somewhat surprised that we were all after him. Aqua and I were panting trying to catch our breath but Amelia looked like she didn't break a sweat! 

"Ayo," she said, paws clamped tightly on her chest. "I want to apologise. What I said was hurtful and I wasn't thinking about your feelings. I hope you can forgive me." I stood up straight and smiled. He titled his head to the side.

"...Apologise for what?" 

"...Eh?" Amelia squeaked. I fell back to the floor. The clueless-ness was like a wave pushing me over. "F-from yesterday..." she continued. "About you and Purry and..." 

"Oh!" he shouted. That's the loudest I've ever heard him! It took me by surprise at first. "Oh, uh, that's alright..."

"Okay, I'm glad... That's all I needed," she replied, looking a little weirded out. He shrugged, turned around and walked off. We silently watched him leave. This quietness lasted for a while until Amelia sighed, both out of relief and frustration. 

"I feel a little silly for worrying so much about it now..." 

"Don't worry about it," I said, now standing beside her. "Honestly, he's kinda weird." She gave me an awkward smile. 

"Speaking of which," Aqua started. "What kind of name is 'Ayo' anyway? I've never heard it before in my life!" 

"Now now, lets not make fun of people's names..." she said. He insisted that he was right and Amelia interrupted him by saying we should find Purry. If she's not with Ayo, then I wonder where she is? We looked all over the school, mostly in places we hadn't been to yet. Class will start soon so we better find her before then. And just like that, she showed up! She seemed to be making her way over to class and wasn't too pleased to see us. She almost turned into the other direction until we called out to her. 

"What is it?" she snapped when we caught up to her. At first, Amelia looked nervous until we encouraged her to go for it. She stepped forward. 

"Um... I'm here to apologise for yesterday. I'm really sorry about what I said, I wasn't being myself. We are best friends and I don't want something like this to come between us. I'm truly sorry and I hope you'll forgive me." She ended her statement with a nice bow. Purry blinked in surprise and looked taken aback. With a slight pout, she swished her head to the side and mumbled. 

"Apology accepted..." 

"You mean it?" she asked.

Purry swished her tail over her white paws. "Yes. And besides you're kinda right, I just didn't want to admit it..." Everyone smiled and brought her into a tight hug. She was flustered over the sudden attention but like the good friends we are, she hugged us back. Happy and together again, we walked to class as a group.

The school day had gone by faster than what I was expecting. Purry's good mood had returned and she was friendly with us once again. She sat with Ayo during class but she had been doing that for a while now, so we weren't surprised. They joined us for recess and for once he actually tried to speak with us. Everybody felt satisfied and we were looking forward to our new friendships together. 

Then lunch came around... The love birds left early as usual so we weren't bothered by it. I was waiting by the lockers as Amelia and Aqua got their lunch. I felt someone poke my shoulder and turned around. 

"Oh, hello." It was Charlotte and Grapefruit! 

"Hi there! Have you seen Ayo? We have a score to settle," the guinea pig girl said. Upon closer examination, she had a band-aid on her cheek. She must have gotten into a fight, with Ayo no less! Grapefruit sat beside her with a cheeky grin. They also had a similar looking band-aid on them.

"He should be with Purry. I don't know where they've gone though," I replied. That's kinda a lie because they are most likely behind the library... 

"Hiding with his girlfriend, huh? He's just a coward too scared to face us!" Grapefruit laughed. At this point Amelia and Aqua had joined me. Amelia asked what was going on and once they explained, said that they shouldn't interfere. 

"He's not being a coward. He can be with his girlfriend if he wants to," she said. The two delinquents mumbled and grumbled amongst themselves. They looked to be itching for a fight. That's no good! You shouldn't do that at school! 

The small pitter patter of paws came from beside me. It was followed by a sniff, like someone was crying. 

"Oh, Purry's here!" Aqua squeaked. Sure enough it was. But why is she crying? We asked what was wrong and she started to cry harder. 

"Ayo... H-he broke up with me!" 

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

"Oh no! Purry, I'm so sorry!" Amelia wailed and held her tight. While gently patting her head, she sobbed into her shoulder. 

"Just when things were looking up too..." Aqua sighed. Funnily enough, I was thinking the same thing. Sure, there was that one argument of sorts but we all seemed to have worked that out. That and we had spent weeks, months even trying to understand and befriend him. Now that was all down the drain. 

"I somehow feel like I'm responsible..." Amelia said while Purry continued to sob. 

"Nooo..." she wailed. "It's got nothing to do with you..." Amelia gave a weak smile and brushed the tears away. I wonder where Ayo is though... When I find him, he has some explaining to do! While we comforted Purry, Charlotte and Grapefruit stood there watching us awkwardly. 

"I have an idea," Charlotte announced. We turned to look at them, waiting for her to speak. "Since we're going to anyway, we can beat Ayo up for you! As revenge!"

"You don't need to do tha-" Amelia said before a soft white paw pressed itself into her face. Purry sniffed and with a small smile, wiped a single tear away. 

"I would like that." Shadows fell over mine, Aqua's and Amelia's face and our mouths opened in shock. I can't believe she agreed to that. 

"Alright!" Grapefruit shouted. "The next time you see Ayo, he'll be in a wheelchair!" Before we could object any further, the two of them ran off. Amelia sighed and stood up, brushing her skirt off. 

"Are you okay, Purry?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," she said. She still looked a little sad but she had stopped crying at least, so it's okay. With friendly smiles, we left to have lunch as a group, happy and together.

As for Ayo... Since breaking up with her, he had gone back to the way he was - pretending we don't exist. I guess he was also like that from the start, but he doesn't talk to us at all now. Oh well! Maybe one day we can break down his walls and open up his shell. 

For now, I'm glad we're back to being good friends. But there is just one little thing... For the most part, Purry is her usual self and is all smiles. But occasionally she laments over him and still watches him with love in her eyes. I guess it will also take some time for her to get over her crush, too!   
  



	6. The Robot Backstage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chocolate Beats has a DJ gig at the night club. Ricky and her arrive early to prepare. They meet up with Savvy and they find a mysterious new speaker none of them have ever seen. Mysterious shadows can also be seen from backstage...

Today was a Saturday and a beautiful day too. Luckily for me, I had something planned! Even though it's still the afternoon, I was on my way to the towns local night club. Why does a small town need a night club? It just does, okay! Since it's the only one around without needing to drive for hours on end, it's very popular. I go there sometimes, even though I'm technically too young for it. Shh! Don't tell anyone, it's a secret! 

But today, I wasn't going there alone. I was with local DJ and good friend, Chocolate Beats, or CB for short. She's in my class at school and we both like the same kind of music. She gives me good recommendations on what to listen to. She's a brown pony and has cool long blonde hair. She also has these pink and black striped hair extensions in. I really like them, I think they're awesome. Anyway, we were on our way to the night club because she has a gig tonight. We were going to set up early. 

"Thanks for coming to help me out, Ricky!" Chocolate Beats said. Behind her, she was carrying a wagon that had all her equipment in it. It looked pretty heavy but she was pushing it along with ease. 

"Hey, no problem! You promised you would get me in for free, as well!" I said. She brushed her hair out of her reddish-pink eyes. 

"Ahaha... Well, that's if Savvy agrees," she replied. Savvy is our friend that works at the night club. She's pretty cool, she's the one that lets us in. Although she does make it clear she doesn't want us drinking any alcohol so I guess it's not too bad. I gave CB a smile and we continued our walk. It's a bit of walk from where we live but getting some exercise does us good. 

...And at last we had made it. We went over to the back entrance, where Savvy should be waiting for us. I tried to open the door and it appeared to be locked. I gave CB a shrug and knocked on it inside. There was some shuffling from the other side until a somewhat high pitched voice begun to speak. 

"Whooo's there?" 

"Hey, it's me and Chocolate Beats. We're here to get ready," I replied. The person on the other side started to laugh.

"Ohoho, well then! I'll let you in only if you tell me the name of a song that has 1000 BPM or more!"

I sighed and angrily put my hands on my hips. "Oh, come on, Savvy! We don't have to do this every time we meet!" 

"I guess you want to stay out there in the cold, then!" she laughed. She always asks me music related questions. She's only doing it to be annoying, I'm sure. That, and to prove she's better than me or something. Heaving her equipment over, CB came closer to the door.

"We can play games later, but for now will you let us in?" 

Savvy groaned a "fine" and opened the door. When she saw our faces, she gave us a cheeky smile. I rolled my eyes and playfully whacked her across the head. In response, she stuck her tongue out, which is a neon pink and blue. Savvy is a colourful individual, in more ways than one. She has black and white fur with splashes of bright colours between it. She looks like she could glow in the dark! I mean, she doesn't but would be cool though. 

With pep in her step, Savvy led us to the storage compartment behind the stage. She told CB to set up whenever she's ready. She dropped the wagon she had been hauling around and it made a small thud on the floor. 

"Expecting a big turn out tonight?" she asked Savvy while untangling some cords. 

"Well, it's a Saturday so it should be pretty busy," she said. We chatted together while helping her get the equipment out of the wagon. As a team, we moved the heavy speakers out on the stage. The night club always looks strange when it's not opening time. It looks so empty and much bigger than it is! We had placed one speaker down and went back to fetch the other. That's when Chocolate Beats spotted something different. 

"That's a strange speaker. I haven't seen that before! Is it new?" she said and pointing to a large grey object sitting in the corner. It had green accents on it and looked like it had cat ears. In the ears were small speakers so it must be able to play music. Savvy tilted her head to the side and had a closer look.

"I haven't seen it either. Maybe it's for some new cat related DJ?" I also hadn't seen it until CB pointed it out. Since it wasn't related to what we were doing, we left it where it was. Ignoring the strange speaker object thing, we moved the other speaker to the stage. 

We had been preparing the stage and other such things for about an hour. We had decided to take a break for lunch time. I'm starting to feel hungry too! CB and I hadn't brought any food with us so Savvy suggested we eat out somewhere.

"Only if you're paying!" I teased. 

"Boo~ You're only freeloading off me because I'm the adult here," she said and made a funny face. CB quietly giggled to herself and we left by the back entrance. I thought I could see something moving in the corner of my eye from back stage... But when I looked, there was nothing there. Must be nothing!

Outside, the sun was shining high in the sky. Savvy locked the door once we were all out. She turned to look at us with a grin.

"So, what do you feel like eating?"

"There's some sandwich place down the road I've been meaning to check out," CB said. 

"Sounds good. Let's go!" With Chocolate Beats in the lead, we left the club and walked to the sandwich place. Along the way, we talked about tonight's gig. We were almost finished setting up and I'm sure it will turn out great! I've been looking forward to it all week, so it better be!

We reached the place CB was talking about and lead us inside. It looks like one of those hipster-y places. Huh, she doesn't seem like the kind of person to go to those places. Either way, it looked pretty good, actually. 

It was one of those places where they make the sandwich in front of you and you choose what you want in it. So all three of us ordered (which did take some time) and then we sat inside to eat. 

"About that cat DJ... Do you think tonight is their debut gig?" CB asked and then took a big bite out of her sandwich. Savvy thought it over and shrugged.

"Possibly. Usually I hear about such things, but maybe they were short on time or something. I don't know." 

"It's pretty fancy for a debut gig!" I laughed. The girls giggled and we finished our sandwiches. But they was one thing occupying my mind. I swear I saw something move back at the club... Unless the dark was playing tricks on my mind... Maybe it was a dust bunny? We have been moving a lot of things and it must get pretty dusty back there. Yeah, that sounds right... 

I heard Savvy make a groan and I was brought back to reality. It looked she had finished, wrapped up the packaging into a ball and tried to throw it into the bin. CB was laughing at her, so I take it she missed. I've finished my lunch too, so it's time to get back to business! 

We had been back at the club for about a half hour now. Together, we had almost finished setting up the stage. CB was behind the turntables, making sure it was working well. These a lot of wires to plug in and stuff...

"Hey Ricky, can you go get some spare cables from the back? They should be in the big drawer in the corner," Savvy asked, who was now helping CB behind the decks. 

"Sure, I'll be as quick as I can!" I replied and dashed out. Backstage was looking a little empty now that we had cleared most of it out. Like she said, there was a big set of drawers in the left corner. Thankfully enough, there were labels on it so I knew where to get those cables she asked for. I grabbed a couple, just in case, and turned to leave.

I noticed that strange cat speaker thing again. Since it had nothing to do with us, we left it be. But I'm pretty sure it's moved anyway... I swear it was in the corner opposite this one, but now it was right in front of it. I definitely didn't touch it but the girls might've. I gave a shrug and left.

CB was playing around with some knobs while Savvy was sorting through wires. I walked up to her and handed her the spare wires I got.

"Hey, did any of you guys touch that weird speaker back there?"

CB's head titled to the side. "Nope. Why you ask?" 

"I'm just asking, cause I swear that thing moved since we last saw it." Savvy loudly laughed, as if she mocking me.

"Don't be ridiculous!" she shouted. "There's no way it can move on it's own!" She continued to laugh and I felt a hoof rubbing my back.

"Don't worry, you're probably mistaken," she said. "And nothing to make fun of you for..." Now embarrassed, I stood back and put my paws in my pockets.

"Hey, I never said I was scared!" I'm no scaredy cat! I just thought it was strange, is all. I'm not a stick in the mud either, so I laughed it off with them.

"Anyways," Savvy announced. "I'm just about done here so let's test this thing out!" CB wasn't too pleased with her DJ equipment being called a 'thing' but a happy smile appeared on her face nonetheless. It's time for the exciting part! Well, second best exciting part until tonight that is! 

I went to help Savvy with the lighting while CB plugged her fancy headphones into the turntables. With one smooth flick of her wrist, she scratched the record and started to play. Loud but beautiful music filled the air. As she was doing this, Savvy's technicolour paws adjusted the lighting sliders. The lights went from the normal white to a nice pink shade. After a couple minutes, CB leaned back and the music stopped. She had a very self-satisfied look to her face.

"So, how was that?" she asked and flicked her blonde hair out of her face. I opened my mouth to speak and-

"NOT-BAD-BUT-I-FEEL-SOMETHING-IS-MISSING."

CB frowned and swished her tail from side to side. "That's unlike you, Ricky, to think that," she said, raising an eyebrow. 

"That wasn't me!" I yelled.

"Not me, either!" Savvy shouted from beside me. She came down from the stage and walked towards us. We backed ourselves up into the wall.

"Well, it has to be one of you two. We're the only ones in here!" 

"ACCTUALLY-I-HAVE-BEEN-HERE-THE-WHOLE-TIME-AS-WELL." A very robotic voice was suddenly heard. All our eyes went wide in surprise and we sat frozen in place. 

"Is someone's Siri on?" CB asked after what felt like a long uncomfortable silence. From back stage, waddled out a... robot? I guess? It was actually the speaker from before. In the middle of it's "head", were two big screens that resembled eyes. Inside were slit irises much like a cat's. We looked at it with wide eyes.

"HELLO," it said.

"Hello," we said back. No one knew what to do. With a mechanical whirr, the robot slowly blinked. 

"The speaker can move," Savvy said in amazement.

"And talk, apparently," I added. 

"Riiight..." CB rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "So, Mr.Robot, why are you here?" It looked us up and down and wagged what could only be described as it's tail. 

"I-AM-CYBERNEKOTIC. I-AM-DESIGNED-TO-PLAY-MUSIC." That explains why we mistook it for a speaker. It sure looks like one, what with the cat ears having the actual speakers inside it. Savvy jumped up and all previous confusion had left.

"You've came to the right place then! This is a night club, and we're playing a gig tonight! Is your, uh, owner gonna be here too?" CyberNekotic took a second to process the information and started to talk in his robotic way. 

"I-DO-NOT-HAVE-THE-AUTHORISATION-REGARDING-MY-CREATOR. HOWEVER-I-WOULD-LIKE-TO-STAY-FOR-TONIGHT. MY-PROGRAMMING-SAYS-I-MUST." 

"I- Well- Okay-" Savvy awkwardly replied. Talking to robots is hard! He seemed happy enough with the answer though. 

"We still have things to do but you can watch, I guess. I mean, if you want..." CB said.

"OKAY," he said and waddled over to take a seat. After that, we went back to our preparations. CB practiced with her DJ seat and Savvy and I checked the lighting, sound and special effects to make sure they were working. CyberNekotic watched us with every move but didn't say a word. He seemed to bop his head to the music though. Looking at him dance, gave me an excellent idea. 

"Hey, I know!" I shouted and both CB and Savvy turned to look at me. "Instead of using these boring old speakers, you could use CyberNekotic instead! I mean, he *did* say he plays music and he's been listening to us the whole time!" 

"That sounds pretty good, actually. It will give him something to do since he likes music so much," CB replied and swished her blonde hair out of her face.

"How did he get there anyway?" Savvy thought aloud. We turned to look at the robot, who was watching us intently. 

"How can we use you to play music?" CB asked. He stood and turned around, showing us the holes installed on the back of his head. 

"I-CAN-PLAY-MUSIC-FROM-USB-OR-CABLE-PORTS. JUST-PLUG-THEM-IN-AND-I-WILL-AUTOMATICALLY-PLAY-THEM." 

CB gave a shrug and did just that. She plugged in the cables for her DJ set into the designated holes on his head. "...Like that?" 

"YES. NOW-TRY-PLAYING," he replied with the cat smile that seems to be painted on to him. We waited excitedly for what was about to happen. CB put on her headphones and gave the record a scratch. Sound begun to play... from CyberNekotic himself!

"Wow, you actually do play music!" Savvy squeaked. 

"YES."

"Awesome! I would love it if you joined me for tonight's gig! It would be a hit!" CB shouted, her pink eyes sparkling with delight. 

"I-WOULD-ALSO-LOVE-IT." Okay, he sounds a bit monotone but that's the best a robot can do. At least the good intentions are there!

"It sounds clearer too. Is that what you thought was missing?" I asked him. His eyes closed tight into a happy smile. 

"All's well that ends well! Let's rest now, until tonight that is," Savvy smiled. CB and I sat around on one of the tables scattered around and CyberNekotic followed us. He was having an engaging conversation with Chocolate Beats, who was in a good mood and excited for tonight. Savvy came over holding a drink tray, with some colourful sodas for all of us (...us that isn't a robot, I mean). 

"Here we are, drink u- Woah!" Savvy tripped over her own damn feet and dropped the tray of drinks. ...Right on to CyberNekotic. He made a horrible buzzing noise and his eyes turned into crosses. 

"MALFUNCTIONING... SHUTTING DOWN..."

"Ricky!" she shouted. "You broke it!"

"Me!? *You're* the one that tripped over!" 

Electric sparks came out of his poor head while he sat down vibrating. What will we do for tonight now? Back to the boring other speakers? But while I was thinking about what to do, Chocolate Beats was beside him and poking around with some sort of control panel.

"What are you doing?" I asked out of curiosity. She blew her hair out of her face and gave me a reassuring smile.

"I've gotten pretty good at handling machines so I'm checking if his hardware is damaged." 

"I hope he's alright. It would be a shame if he was broken as soon as we met him..."

She gave me a wink and told me it should be okay. Savvy had left at one point and was now cleaning up what was spilt on the floor with a broom and paper towels. I helped clean up the mess and also patted CyberNekotic down as best I could. Eventually, CB stood back and closed his control panel again. 

"Can he be saved!?" Savvy squeaked.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "Just leave him to dry and I'm sure he'll be fine."

"But... Will he be dry enough in time for tonight? He wanted to play your music, remember..." I said. She fell silent and thought it over.

"...Probably? Maybe? I mean, if all else fails we still have the other speakers..." We crossed our fingers and hoped by tonight, he will be okay by then.

~~~~~

It was now dark and Chocolate Beat's gig was about to start in, like, five minutes. CB, Savvy, me and the still shut down CyberNekotic were backstage. They decided to go on with the show without him.

"Okay, are you all ready?" Savvy asked her for the second time.

"Yep, yep. We've prepared and everything so it'll go smoothly. Hopefully," she said. 

"Don't say that!" I smiled. "It will go absolutely fine!" She gave me a happy grin, but was also nervously playing with a hair. No matter how much preparations we do, going upstage is the most nerve-wracking part. 

"Okay!" she shouted, determination now written all over her face. "Let's do this!" Savvy and I both wished her luck and she stepped forward on to the stage. But before that... A mechanical whirr sounded from beside us...

"RECHARGE-COMPLETE." CyberNekotic was on his feet once again and his eyes were open wide, a soft green light illuminating them. We were stunned to see him up again. He looked at us and stared with his permanent cat smile. 

"You're... You're alive!" Savvy shouted. ...A-as alive as a robot can be, that is! He turned to the front, where the stage is. CB stared at him, amazed. 

"You can still do the show?" she asked. He bowed down, as if he was nodding (he can't actually move his head). Her face immediately lit up and a big smile stretched across her cheeks. 

"Let's go!" she grinned. "The crowd is waiting!" She pushed CyberNekotic on to the stage, as he waddled along. When CB entered the stage, the already large crowd went nuts. They were cheering and screaming her name. 

"You can go join the crowd, Ricky. You've helped more than enough," Savvy said, giving me a kind smile. 

"You sure? Alright, see you in a bit!" I squeaked and dashed out. I pushed through the crowd so I could get as close to the front as possible. I want to be able to see both CB and CyberNekotic up close! CB was waving to the crowd and put on her pink headphones. 

"How we all doing tonight!?" she shouted to the crowd. They responded with excited screaming. CB is usually a more soft-spoken individual but on stage, she can get pretty loud!

"Good, good! Tonight, I'd like to introduce you all to a special guest!" The cheering got even louder. She gestured to CyberNekotic who waddled up to the front.

"Introducing CyberNekotic! Our special robot slash speaker system friend! He will be helping with our show tonight! Please give him a warm welcome!" she shouted. The crowd yelled and started to cheer his name too! I joined in with them too and threw the glowstick I was given in the air. Then CB's DJ gig begun! 

I can't wait to dance and sing along with the music! The rest of tonight is going to be great! As along as Savvy doesn't drink too much alcohol again... Oh well, the night is still young so let's bring it on! 


	7. What Goes Up, Must Come Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On request of his sister, Ricky visits the shopping centre! There he finds school mates Luka, Maxwell and Penny. Penny refuses to go down the escalator because she's scared and the rest must help her overcome her fears!

Another week had passed and it was the weekend once again. I didn't have any specials plans this time so I was going to laze about at home. It's good to have a rest every now and then!

I was relaxing on the couch, surfing through the TV channels. Nothing all that interesting is on in the afternoon, though. My sister, Claire, walked into the living room and stopped to stare at me.

"You look like you're doing nothing, can you do a favour for me?" she said.

"What kind of favour?" I asked and sat upright. Even if I did say no, she would make me do it anyway... She twirled some of her blonde hair around her finger. 

"Well, I have a date tonight and I need you to get me a couple things."

"Why can't you do it yourself?"

"Did you not hear me? I have a date tonight! I'll be getting ready right here," she scoffed and put her hands on her hips. You need the whole afternoon to get ready? What on Earth is she doing? She does tend to take these things very seriously so I probably shouldn't ask. 

"Look, I'll even give you some change and you can buy something nice for yourself too," she added.

"Okay! That seems fair. What do you need?" 

"Get me that hairspray that smells like cotton candy. Oh, and some mints too."

"What, your breath stinks?" I teased.

"No!" she yelled. "It's just in case. Geez!" 

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll go then..." A small smile appeared on her lips and she gave me the change. She swished her hair to the side and then disappeared back into her room. "Don't take all day though!" she yelled once more and slammed the door shut. I shrugged and made my leave too.

There's only one big shopping centre in town, and luckily it's not that far away. In no time at all, I made it to my destination. Now, I guess I should check out the hair items shop first... It's below ground floor, I believe. With a good amount of change in my pockets, I made my way towards the escalators. When I got there, I was met with three familiar faces. 

Sitting on the side-lines, were three cats, Penny, Luka and Maxwell. I know them from school! It looked like something was wrong, because Penny had her face buried in her paws. 

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked as I walked over to them. 

"Oh, um, well..." Maxwell stammered. 

"Penny won't go down the escalator," Luka said and huffed out some air. From beside her, Penny made a small whimper. The little black cat shook where she stood. 

"Why's that?" I titled my head to the side. 

"The thing is..." Maxwell said and told me the story about what happened. He explained that both him and Penny have been best friends since they were young. And also since they were young, she has been deathly afraid of escalators. Only going down though, because, according to her, it's a big difference. The three of them have been here since early afternoon, but this is as far as they've gotten. 

"I see!" I exclaimed in amazement. "Well, why don't you use the elevators instead? Unless she's also afraid of those-" 

"No, but she should be able to use these too! It's much easier and less time consuming!" Luka snapped, her pink striped tail twitching in annoyance. Meanwhile, Penny hadn't said a word and was only staring at the floor. Maxwell put a paw on her back for comfort. Paws on my hips, I stood back to think about it.

"Hmm... I get that but you shouldn't force her to do something she's not comfortable with." 

"I'm not forcing her to do anything! It's just annoying!" the white and pink cat shouted. I feel like it's pointless to argue back and forth but I don't know what else to say...

"Then, what would YOU like to do about it?" I asked.

"Well, I would... I would... Um..." she mumbled. See? Not that easy, is it! At this point, Penny had looked up off the ground. Her green eyes were wide like saucers. But at the same time, she had a determined look to her face. We turned to look at her, her expression not wavering at all.

"I... I want to try going down. I want to be able to do it..." she said. Maxwell and Luka's jaws dropped.

"R-really?" Maxwell gasped. She nodded and Luka jumped in the air with delight. 

"That's great!" I grinned. "Should we go then?" Penny turned sheepish and fiddled with her tail.

"Um... Could we wait five minutes maybe?" she said. Luka rolled her eyes but the three stayed with her.

Five minutes were up and Luka and Maxwell were itching to go. Penny stood up on shaky legs and gave us all a smile. "Let's go, let's go!" Luka said and made a beeline towards the escalator. Maxwell, Penny and I followed her.

"I'll meet you all down there!" I said and boarded on to it. Maxwell gave Penny a reassuring pep talk and he came on after me. Then Luka and then... And then... Not Penny? She stood right up the top but when it was time to put her paws on to it, she chickened out and ran off. 

"Where did she go?" Maxwell asked in surprise, light blue eyes blinking. 

"She's gone hiding again!" Luka scoffed.

"No worries, we can go back up to meet her!" I said, all three of us now at the bottom. We used the second escalator to go back to the top and for a second, I thought we actually did lose her. Turns out she was hiding behind a big bushy plant pot. Luka grabbed her by the tail, making her squeak, and pulled her out. 

"What was that about!?" she shouted.

"I-I'm sorry... I-I just... Got scared..." she stuttered, shrinking into herself. Maxwell put his tail around her to keep her calm. 

"Even after you said you would do it? What's the truth then!?" she growled. 

"Hey!" I shouted and put myself between the two of them. "There's no use getting angry about it. Let's take things slow, hey?" She puffed out some air in annoyance but sat back down anyway. Penny looked at me with her big green eyes, expecting me to do something. Well, I mean, I'm here anyway so I might as well take the initiative! 

"Right! Penny, if you don't mind me asking, what is it about it that scares you?" 

"It's big. And high up," she replied almost instantly. She was starting to shake again and her black fur stood up on end.

"If I remember correctly, there was this incident once from when we were little... Nothing all that major but, you know," Maxwell said and lightly chuckled. I stopped to think about what to do. This doesn't look like it'll be an easy task but I pride myself on being able to help people! It won't hurt trying a couple things out... The metaphorical light bulb in my head went off and I thought of something.

"Have you tried going down at the same time? Like, you could hold paws or something," I suggested. 

"More like hold tails," Luka added and made an effort to push her fluffy tail in my face. Beside her, Maxwell's face had lit up. 

"That sounds like a great idea! Come on Penny, we can go with you. We promise to not let go until we're at the bottom," he squeaked. She looked at him with those wide eyes of hers. 

"O-okay... We can try that," she said. Maxwell gently smiled and after a short break, we went back to the escalators. Penny's tail had wrapped itself around Maxwell's as we stood up the top.

"We'll meet you down there," Luka said and stepped on. I gave Penny a thumbs up and I followed her, going downstairs once again. From behind me, I could hear Maxwell gently talking. 

"...Okay? On the count of three!" he squeaked. I didn't hear Penny reply, but then again I was further away now. Luka and I were now at the bottom staring up at them. Luckily, it wasn't all that busy now so no one was being held up. 

It appeared Maxwell had finished his count down and stepped forward with a smile. Penny didn't budge and the poor things almost fell all the way to the bottom. ...I don't think that would've helped her case one bit. Luka clicked her tongue and her tail wagged in irritation. Maxwell was still encouraging her to go down but it looks like she won't budge. Eventually, they walked away and we were told to come back up. Luka and I ran back up to meet them. Penny was staring at the floor with a gloomy face. 

"So, that didn't work so well. But that's okay!" I shouted. "There's still more things to try!"

"...I don't think so," she replied. "All this is pointless. I'm not going to be able to do it." Maxwell was about to speak when Luka jumped forward and stood in front of her.

"No!" she shouted. It was so loud that some passer-by's stared at us. That didn't seem to waver her fierceness though. "Ricky is right, we can't give up. And I-I know I sound mean sometimes but, um..." Her face turned away and a light blush appeared on her white cheeks. "I-I think you can do it. You're good at things like that. You can try things and you get the job done. W-what I'm saying is... I-I believe in you." At this point, her cheeks were a bright red. I giggled to myself. So, Luka can be like that too, huh? 

Penny's eyes were sparkling a bright green. "Y-you mean that?" she asked. Luka nodded and flicked her tail. 

"Oh, I... Thank you..." she blushed. Her ears drooped downwards and her gloomy look returned. "But I don't know if I can... I don't want to disappoint you all." 

"I-it's not like I'll be disappointed...!" Luka snapped. "I... Just want to see you do it." 

"We all believe in you, Penny. And we won't be mad if you can't do it today. Maybe another day you'll be able to," Maxwell added and warmly smiled. I gave her a smile too and her cheeks were almost as red as Luka's had turned. She shuffled her paws in embarrassment and smiled back. 

"Thank you, everyone. I think I want to try a little more."

"Great! Want to try holding my paw next?" I offered and she gave a nod.

So... We had been at it for about another ten minutes. Going with me didn't work and neither with Luka (who got a little angry afterwards). We tried once more with Maxwell also. He suggested she try doing it herself but she said it was too scary. 

"Got any other ideas?" he asked me. 

"We could, uh... carry her?"

"Then that's hardly going down herself," Luka said. I turned to Penny, who was looking around the room absentmindedly. I knelt down to her level and talked in a kind voice.

"What would you like to do? What would help you feel more comfortable?"

Her ears went against her head and avoided eye contact. "Um... I don't know." 

"Do you want to keep trying? Or should we stop for today? We can come back tomorrow," I said. She looked at me for a couple seconds and shook her head. Her long thin tail twitched nervously. 

"I... I want to keep trying," she said. Luka walked up and stood in front of us. 

"Come on, then. Get to it," she said and pushed her up off the floor. Penny's back legs went up over her head as she pushed her along to the escalators. Her eyes were wide as the panic started to set in. Her lips were moving but no sound came out. So, I decided to step in myself. 

"Wait, wait, wait! Not so fast!" I squeaked and forced Luka to a stop. She spun around towards me with furious eyes. 

"Nothing's going to get done if we keep sitting around like this!" she shouted. 

"I get that, I do, but we shouldn't be forcing her to do something she doesn't want to!" I said back. Before I knew it, I had found myself having an argument with the irritated white and pink cat. Ah, geez! What have I done!? I understand she wants to get it over and done with but I don't think that's the right way to go about it! 

Penny and Maxwell watched us argue, speechless. Maxwell looked to be the most in a panic and like he was trying to figure out what to do. His paws were on his head and he had started to mumble some random nonsense. Penny looked side to side and-

"STOOOP!" A loud voice echoed throughout the shopping centre. Luka and I stopped arguing instantly. Where did that loud yell come from? Was it...? I turned to Penny, who was staring right at us. 

"Please don't argue!" she pleaded. "I-I changed my mind... I can't do it after all..." Her ears flopped downwards. 

"But Penny... We've been trying so hard..." Luka said. The black cat shuffled her feet and stepped backwards out of nervousness. 

"I know... But I think that's all I can do today..." she said. "We can try again some other day." She gave us a forced smile and continued to shuffle about. In fact, she seemed to getting awfully close to the escalator... 

"Ah, watch out!" I shouted to warn her. But then she went down... and down... Maxwell leaped to his paws.

"Penny, you did it! Congratulations!" he yelled. 

"Eh?" she squeaked and looked at her surroundings. Sure enough, she was sitting on the escalator going down! After all this time, she could finally do it! ...Somehow.

"She had to go... backwards?" I thought aloud. 

"That's it!?" Luka snapped. "How does that even make sense!?" Maxwell chuckled. 

"Well, I'm just glad she was able to do it..."

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, Penny ran back up to greet us. I don't think she knows how she did that either. But to see if it wasn't a fluke, we made her do it again. The trick was to distract her with something while she walked backwards. It sounds strange, yeah, but it works! 

Feeling happy with themselves, the three friends invited me to have lunch with them. We ordered something to eat in the food courts. After lunch, we had a chat about whatever popped up into our heads. It was mostly about school, to be honest. I stayed with them for a while but then I decided to make my way home. I can't help feeling like I forgot something though...

~~~~~

When I got home, I collapsed on to the couch. Ahh, another busy but fulfilling day! Time to relax~. Just as I propped up my feet paws, my sister Claire walked into the room. Her blonde hair was curled up into a towel around her head. 

"God, you sure took your time. What, was there a parade going through town or something?" she said. "Anyway, where are they?" She outstretched her hand as if she was expecting me to give her something.

"Where's what?" I asked. 

"The hairspray and mints I asked you to get. Did you forget about it!?" she barked. Oh, so that's what I forgot! Uh, I don't think Claire would be too pleased to hear that... 

"Uh.... Well, you see..." I said, twiddling my thumbs. 

"Ugh! This is why I should never count on you for anything! Whatever!" she shouted and stormed off. I heard her bedroom door slam shut. Oops... 

I might not be in my sister's good books but I don't care! I'm still in a good mood from helping out Penny and co. I'm not sure if I actually did all that much to help but I'm glad Penny was able to face her fears. Now, let's see if she can go down it facing the front! Maybe some other day we can try that!


End file.
